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JetBlue’s Crazy Fares

Jetblue is doing a Happy Jetting Happy Hour out in Reston tomorrow from 3:30 til 6:30 at Reston Town Center’s pavilion. They’ll be doing super special deals for last minute getaways in October to New York, Florida (four cities) and California (three cities) at their ticket bar. In the wake of their eBay fare auctions, they’re trying some other unique events.

Hey guys, awesome idea, but maybe do it on Freedom Plaza next time? Or up on Dupont Circle?

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.

12 thoughts on “JetBlue’s Crazy Fares”

You’d have to pay me to fly Jet Blue. I don’t care how cheap they’re fares are, I’d rather not suffer through their cattle class flights.

Call me elitist (please! I am a Premier Exec), but I get more space on United and fly with a more experienced class of traveler. The cheap-o’s on Jet Blue remind me of suburban Wall-Mart clientele and I’m happy to pay more to avoid them. Last but not least, I like me some first class upgrades, which is not possible on Jet Blue.

That’s cool, Wayan, I can live without pretentious entitlement flyers. More room for the rest of us. And, frankly, given the choice between flying United first class and having my bags sent to abu dhabi, and having to pay for each and every little thing from checking a bag on through to a soda on the flight, I’ll choose JetBlue every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Live TV at my seat on domestic flights, free of charge.
Sodas and snacks, free of charge.
Baggage, free of charge for 2 bags.
Direct flights to the west coast, cheaper than United.

I’m with Wayan on this one. Not because I dislike JetBlue, or the flyers. In fact, the television is a bonus.

The first time you start flying on 16 hour jumps to Asia, however, not being able to get an upgrade is going to instantly change your point of view.

I know it sounds crazy, but those frequent flyer programs have one benefit – they allow you to get some sleep in a seat that reclines more than 5 inches. And after the one time I flew to Australia in coach, I’m never ever going back.

I may be pretentious, but I’ll keep that label – and I’ll keep flying United – if it lets me stretch out for the 15 hour LAX-SYD flight. Gladly.

Ha! I’m happily pretentious about flying as I do so much of it. Jonathan has 15 hours to SYD, I have 16 to NBO and LOS. None I’d like doing with Jet Blue’s commercial TV – that’s torture especially when you can relax with Channel 9 on United.

Let’s be frank: Flying domestic isn’t the same as flying international. Both of you guys fly a lot for business, where the company’s picking up your fare, provided it’s not 8 bajillion dollars each way. For those of us who have to pay our own way, it’s hard to fly the major carriers, they’re just not competitive.

I suspect I’m not the only one out there who’s tired of having to pay a premium so I can amass miles on a system that won’t ever pay out for me. So, for me, JetBlue’s a good deal. So is Virgin, so is southwest. Yeah, there’s no first class, but I’m not paying an extra $100 each way so I can pick up a few frequent flier miles that won’t ever turn into anything for me.

So, I get what you’re saying, Wayan & Jon, but you guys aren’t in the same league as a lot of air travelers.

Yep, frequent flier miles great when the company is picking up the tab. I would dearly love to be a pretentious traveler. Alas.

Now that it costs $300+ for a 1-hour regional trip and twice that to cross a time zone (before fees for bags, food, and fresh oxygen), those of us who fly 3-4 times a year have to take the bargains where we can get them.

Thanks for the heads up on the JetBlue deal! At last, a perk to working in the ‘burbs.

Tom, if you fly 4x a year to the West Coast, you’re gonna earn ~5000 per flight, or 20K in a year. That puts you a 1/2 flight from a free ticket if you concentrate on one airline. Take your per-ticket cost and divide by 4. Then add that to the cheap-o fare. Close to a decent carrier fare? Then FF will work for you.

And if you make those flights mileage runs and you are looking at at least one free flight a year. 4x just became 5x at no extra cost.

A WAS-SacTown flight on United (the cheapest) for a long weekend in Nov is $324, and that’s through LGA with a few hundred miles to boot. Make it through SEA too for $420 and after 3 flights + some non-flight FF miles and you have a free ride on FF miles.

Not to mention that frequent flyer miles on most airlines means that you can get the 1 or 2 seats allotted to free tickets if you plan 6 months in advance or fly very unfavorable times.

I’ll stick with flying based on price, regardless of the airline. In the long run that’s less annoying and cheaper than paying higher rates in order to maybe get a freebie down the road. Opportunity cost!

Tom Bridge

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I'm happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I'm done. Read Why I Love DC.

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